Bill Charlap

William Morrison Charlap (born October 15, 1966, pronounced "Shar-Lap" ) is an American jazz pianist. In 2016, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, an album featuring Charlap and Tony Bennett, won the award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

Early life and education
Born in New York City, Bill Charlap comes from a musical background. His father was the composer Moose Charlap. His mother, Sandy Stewart, is a singer who was a regular on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall television series and had a hit recording in 1962 with "My Coloring Book". Charlap is a distant cousin of the jazz pianist Dick Hyman.

Charlap began playing piano at the age of three. He studied classical music, but his career has been in jazz.

Career
Charlap recorded Love Is Here to Stay (2004) and Something to Remember (2012) with his mother, Sandy Stewart. His albums Somewhere, featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, and Live at The Village Vanguard received Grammy Award nominations.

He has worked with Gerry Mulligan, Benny Carter, Tony Bennett, Phil Woods, Scott Hamilton, Ron Carter, and others. In the mid-1990s, he was the musical director of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, A Celebration of Johnny Mercer, part of New York's JVC Jazz Festival. In 1995, he joined the Phil Woods Quintet.

Charlap appears at least twice a year for engagements at jazz clubs, including the Village Vanguard, with his rhythm section, consisting of Peter Washington (double bass) and Kenny Washington (drums) (the two are not related to each other). Since 2001, he has recorded as a member of the New York Trio for the Japanese label Venus Records. The other members of the New York Trio are bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Bill Stewart.

Charlap succeeded Dick Hyman as artistic director of New York City's 92nd Street Y Jazz in July six-program series after Hyman's 20th year in 2004. He and his wife, Canadian jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, released an album of piano duets Double Portrait on Blue Note Records/EMI.

In 2008, Charlap became part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January to April 2009. The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and his wife Renee Rosnes.

In September 2015, Charlap became the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

Personal life
He married the Canadian jazz pianist Renee Rosnes in New York City on August 25, 2007. He has two daughters from a previous marriage and one stepson from Rosnes’ previous marriage to Billy Drummond.

As a member
The Blue Note 7
 * Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records (Blue Note, 2009) – recorded in 2008

Other Blue Note appearances
 * Bill Charlap, Elvis Costello, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Dianne Reeves, Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life (Blue Note, 2007) – compositions of Billy Strayhorn

As sideman
With Harry Allen
 * Harry Allen Plays Ellington Songs with the Bill Charlap Trio (RCA Victor, 2000) – recorded in 1999
 * Blues for Pres and Teddy (Swingbros, 2011)

With Phil Woods
 * 1997: Chasin' the Bird (Venus, 1998)
 * 2000: Voyage with the Bill Charlap Trio at the Floating Jazz Festival Aboard the QE2 (Chiaroscuro, 2001)
 * 2002: The Thrill is Gone with strings (Venus, 2003)
 * 2002: The Great American Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2 (Kind of Blue, 2006)

With others
 * Ruby Braff, You Brought a New Kind of Love (Arbors, 2004)
 * Johnny Frigo, Johnny Frigo's DNA Exposed! (Arbors, 2001)
 * With Jon Gordon, Spark (Chiaroscuro, 1995)
 * Scott Hamilton, Back to New York (Concord Jazz, 2005)
 * Jay Leonhart, Great Duets (Chiaroscuro, 1999)
 * Brian Lynch, Brian Lynch Meets Bill Charlap (Sharp Nine, 2003)
 * Gerry Mulligan, Lonesome Boulevard (Verve, 2009)
 * the Joe Roccisano Orchestra, Leave Your Mind Behind (Landmark, 1995)
 * Carol Sloane, When I Look in Your Eyes (Concord, 1994)
 * Sean Smith, LIVE! (Chiaroscuro, 1999)
 * Grant Stewart, Grant Stewart + 4 (VideoArts, 2005) – recorded in 2004
 * Warren Vaché, Dream Dancing (Arbors, 2004) – recorded in 2003